French wardrobe makeover

 

It has been months since my last blog post, so thought I would share my latest furniture makeover.  The above photo is my piece from the website, but I forgot to take a photo before we took it apart.  I have been wanting a Louis XV wardrobe FOREVER and I finally found one for a reasonable price and only 50 minutes from my house!!

 

My sweet hubby helping to load it in the car                                             

Getting it all packed in there!  I love European furniture because it breaks down for easy transport

 

With any furniture I buy from an unknown source, I always treat for woodworms.  This piece has several woodworm holes throughout it, so I treated it with HOLZWURM before bringing it into my house because woodworms can spread!! This is very common in antique European furniture.

Once treated, I fill in the holes because I don't personally like the look of unfilled holes, this is a personal preference

I then primed it with a cream color paint that I purchased at HOMEBASE in England last year.  I use Annie Sloan chalkpaint, that is supposed to require no priming, but I found that certain woods bleed and I did not want to waste an entire pot of ASCP on this piece.

I painted, sanded and waxed piece by piece and when it came to the back panel, I decided to use this beautiful wallpaper that I purchased at Laura Ashley when we were in England last year as well since it was gray and white.  

 

To make it easy on myself, I laid out the wallpaper and used sharp scissors to score the sides.

 

To keep track of white panel went with which piece of paper, I numbered the panels

I then used my big ole bottle of MOD PODGE to attach it; quick and easy

I didn't mind there it wasn't completely smooth since it was the back panel and it is going to be filled with lots of items; I like things that aren't too perfect looking anyways!

Fast forward to after it is put together.  It was super easy and it look all of 10 minutes, it is held together with 4 screws!

 When I originally bought it, I thought I would paint it and resell, but that is not going to happen, I love it and it is mine forever!  I painted in a mix of cream and Paris grey.  I hit the high points with Old White and then of course sanded it and waxed it with dark wax only.

 It is going to hold so many of my decorations, I love that it has a drawer at the bottom on the inside as well.

 You can see that the classic Louis XV crown is highlighted in Old White, just enough for a nice contrast

 Here she is in all of her French Glory!! Love, love, love it!